Belgian poker pro Kenny Hallaert became the latest Super Tuesday champion on PokerStars after a smooth final table, during which he maintained a good chip lead. The player earned $57,000 for his efforts after a two-way deal with his heads-up opponent gustavo5454 from Brazil.
The $1,050 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament started off with 339 participants who swelled the prize pool up to $339,000. The top 47 places got paid.
Despite the large field and the fierce competition, Hallaert established himself as the chip leader even before the bubble burst. The player maintained his advantage all the way through the final table and beyond.
Nine-handed play began with Hallaert holding 1,710,197 in chips, followed by Niall “Firaldo87” Farrell with 1,219,203. It was late on Tuesday when the Belgian, who plays under the SpaceyFCB screen name on PokerStars, eliminated his final opponent to eventually scoop the title.
The two finalists went all in after the final hand’s [7s][2c][6c] flop. Hallaert held [Ac][6h] against gustavo5454’s [Kd][6s]. The [2h] appeared on the turn and the [7h] appeared on the river to seal it for the Belgian poker pro. As mentioned above, the two players entered a two-way deal coming into their heads-up match, which earned gustavo5454 the amount of $52,567.22. Each of the nine players at the final table was guaranteed a payout of no less than $5,361.62.
Here it is interesting to note that Hallaert has previously made three Super Tuesday final tables, but a title has eluded him so far.
The poker professional has been equally active on the live poker scene. Last year, he was among the November Niners in the WSOP Main Event, eventually finishing 6th for his largest live tournament cash of $1,464,258. Although the player failed to repeat or even improve his feat from 2016 during this year’s edition of the tournament, he ran relatively deep into it. The player took 64th place for $101,444.
Looking at his cash history, it can be seen that the Belgian has cashed in precisely 100 live tournaments since September 2006, when his first live in-the-money finish was recorded. The player has over the years been regular participant in WSOP tournaments as well as in a number of other prestigious events to have taken place in different parts of the world.
Hallaert is one of his homeland’s most profitable players. He currently ranks third in Belgium’s all-time money list with overall earnings of $3,290,094. Davidi Kitai with $8,066,982 and 2015 WSOP Main Event November Niner Pierre Neuville with $4,250,321 are the only other two ranking higher then him.
As for his online poker earnings, the player has scored a lifetime total of $3,682,791, making 63 in-the-money finishes. He has been most active at PokerStars’ online poker tables over the past several years, scoring $2,653,158 from different games.
